Israel

December 21, 2013: Danny's birthday. We drove up from Cincinnati to Indianapolis that blustery afternoon to celebrate with Tom at a very nice restaurant in town (Stone Creek). The next morning, Tom's friend Joanna ferried the three of us to the Indianapolis airport to set off on this trip of a lifetime.

From Indianapolis to Charlotte to Munich to Tel Aviv. Then a sherut down to Jersualem. All in just 17 hours. As we unloaded onto the street, Sara noticed us from her second floor apartment and called down a greeting. Reunited for a wonderful 10-day visit. We knew that we'd want to share as much as we could of this trip with you, our family and friends, (and to save what we could for the future as well), so I was pretty active with the camera (a rather modest Canon digital). Here are some 100 or so pictures of our trip (we actually took over 700). We hope you enjoy them.

After sleeping off some of the jet lag (which is alway worse when you travel west to east!), we were ready the next morning (Sara's birthday!) to walk into the Old City with the whole clan: Toby and Nomi were dropped off at school, Sara went into one of her last exams for the term, and Keith was our guide for the day. The apartment was about a mile from Jaffa Gate -- one of the main gates into the Old City of Jerusalem. The photo above marked our first view of this unique and wonderful place…the Center of the World for so much of humanity.

 This is the main tower of the Citadel, just inside the Old City walls.

And here, just inside Jaffa Gate, in the stone pavement is a lovely mosaic design (about 18'' wide by 10'' tall). Note in these photos the uniformity of the sand-colored stone from which nearly everything in the Old City is built. It lends a striking beauty to the place.

Almost immediately upon entering the city, one becomes engulfed by the shops and souks that line the narrow alleyways. The City is divided into four quarters: the Jewish Quarter in the southeast, the Armenian Quarter in the southwest, the Christian Quarter in the northwest, and the Muslim Quarter in the northeast. Running through each is a warren of bazaars. 

At some point, you notice that there are occasional markers on the walls in Roman numerals: the Stations of the Via Dolorosa (above, the Eighth Station), which, if you follow them in increasing order through the City, take you to the center of the Christian Quarter, to the Parvis, the plaza in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pictured below. 

In this photo, taken late in the morning, you can see the ever-present crowds milling in front of the Church. This spot is holy to all Christians the world over. And it means so much that they have not ceased fighting over its administration. Various Christian groups share the space and have managed a careful coexistence here. But it has seen its bizarre problems over the years. Note the Ladder of the Ethiopians outside the window on the third floor: it was put there by Ethiopian monks who at one point had their entry to the Church bricked over, forcing them to access the building by scaling the exterior wall!

Upon entering the church, you come immediately upon the Stone of Unction. It took us by surprise. Tradition says that this slab of marble is where Jesus' body was placed by Joseph of Arimathea when it was prepared for burial. As you might expect, it receives veneration by many of the pilgrims who visit the church.

This is another picture of the Stone of Unction.

Naturally, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was erected over the site of Calvary and the adjacent garden tomb in which Jesus' body was lain. Just to the right of the Stone of Unction is a short and narrow flight of stairs that take you to Calvary (marked by the stone in the photo above).  To its right is an ornate altar under which is a spot where it is believed the Cross of Christ was set.

The lighting is poor, but this shows the altar at Calvary: there are life-sized images of the crucified Christ with the Blessed Mother and St. John on either side.

     

In the lower reaches of the Church is the Chapel of St. Helena.

These crosses etched into the wall of the stairway to Helena's Chapel were left by early Catholic pilgrims.

The main church is topped by this dome; to the left of the Stone of Unction is a small enclosed structure that surrounds Jesus' tomb.

On the street in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City we encountered this colorful graffitied wall.

No more striking reminder of how valued this City is to all the Peoples of the Book can be given by making the ten-minute walk from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to this place: the plaza above Ha Kotel - The Western Wall, with the spectacular gold Dome of the Rock visible beyond the Wall. Men worship on the left side, women on the right side (in the photo, it's the area shadowed by the ramp that was built to carry people up to the Haram es Sharif, access to the Temple Mount (the Dome of the Rock, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Muslim holy sites of that area). A few moments of prayer at the Wall is a profound and humbling experience.

Making our way back into the City, we came across the Roman road that was the main throughway through the City, the Cardo.

Here are pillars along the Cardo that have been restored from Roman times.

Where the Jaffa Gate marks the entry point into the City where the Armenian and Christian Quarters meet, the Damascus Gate is where the Christian and Muslim Quarters meet. This is also a key meeting point for many transportation routes that take travelers into and away from Jerusalem.

Later that evening we celebrated Sara's birthday dinner at a great restaurant called Hatzot.

On Christmas morning, the three of us (Danny, Debbie, and Tom) headed out to attend Mass in Bethlehem! We rode an Israeli cab to Checkpoint 300, the passage across the Separation Wall between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He left us there to make the crossing, and on the other side, we hired a Palestinian taxi from the Checkpoint into Bethlehem. We were struck first by the stark difference between the urban sophistication of Jerusalem and the poverty and privation of the Palestinian-controlled territories, but we were also surprised by the rough and very hilly terrain of Bethlehem and its surroundings. The cab negotiated more than one road with a 20% grade! It is easy to imagine traveling this country with nothing but a pack animal.

Khalid, our cabbie, wanted to drive us all over the Palestinian territories. Even though we insisted that we get to Manger Square to make the scheduled 10 am Mass, he took us first to Shepherd's Field Church; of course, it marks the spot where the shepherds were said to have heard the angels announce the birth of Jesus. It's not a large building, but it is one of a number of churches run by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

Khalid took us first to note the location of his brother's gift shop in Bethlehem town, and instructed us to return here after the service so that he could bring us back to Jerusalem. The walk up to Manger Square provided this panorama of one of the many settlements in the West Bank.

Here is the Church of the Nativity, built above the cave where tradition says Jesus was born. A church was first built here by Constantine in the fourth century, and it was around that church that St. Jerome lived until his death in the year 420. The current church was built by Justinian in 530, and much of it still stands! It is one of the oldest churches in all of Christendom.

This Door of Humility (so called because one must stoop low to enter) is the only way into the Church of the Nativity.  It is only about 4.5 feet tall.

St. Catharine's Church is connected to the Church of the Nativity.  This is where we celebrated Mass on Christmas morning.  Mass was in Arabic with two local bishops presiding.

Bethlehem: another view of the surroundings.

The Milk Grotto Church is also in Bethlehem.  Tradition says this is where Mary & Joseph hid from Herod the Great. It is called this because the legend tells that when Mary fed Jesus here, a drop of her milk turned the stones white.

Back to Jerusalem. On the feast of St. Stephen, we returned to the Old City to do the Ramparts Walk: for 30 shekels apiece, one is allowed to scale the walls of the City. From the Jaffa Gate, one can walk the southern route along the Armenian and Jewish Quarters. The walk starts alongside the Citadel. This is called the Tower of David even though David had nothing to do with it.

A view through a crenneline in the wall

The Zion Gate

 A view of the valley of Gehenna from atop the Ramparts

Just outside the southern walls, Dormition Abbey & Bell Tower, a Benedictine monastery. It is thought that here, near the place of the Cenacle (where the Last Supper took place), Mary was assumed into heaven.

The Mount of Olives, as seen from the Ramparts, was surprising.  It is completely filled by a Jewish and a Muslim cemetery.

The Rampart Walk took us through all four quarters of the Old City.  Here, along the northern part of the walk, a Christmas Tree mounted on a building in the Christian Quarter, and right next to it a Mosque in the Muslim Quarter.

Here is a view of the Muslim Quarter from the Ramparts, with the imposing Dome of the Rock in the distance.

Here is an interesting cave located inside the Old City walls.

In fact, there are caves everywhere: here are some just outside the walls.

Another view of the Mount of Olives as seen from the Rampart Walk.

Of course, the real reason for being in Jerusalem is to see the children: Toby is a great big brother!

Naomi likes to play with Grammy, especially when Grammy tickles her!

And Ramona is too cute for words!!!!

Because there's not much to do in Jerusalem on the Sabbath, we took the opportunity to schedule a tour of Nazareth and the Galilee on that day. A group of about 10 (including Danny, Debbie and Tom) set out on a bus to the north, but via the road through Jericho in the West Bank. The bus begins by scaling the Mount of Olives and thence into the desolate highlands east of Jerusalem. This is what the drive from Jerusalem to Jericho looked like.  We even saw a caravan of camels along the road.

Shepherds and their flocks still range the hills here.

The first stop on this tour was to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation.

This is the grotto and altar down in the crypt, where it is said Mary was visited by the Angel Gabriel.

The upper church was also quite beautiful.

We then went to Kfar Kana (Cana) to visit the Wedding Church, pictured above, where Jesus performed his first miracle.

The interior of the Wedding Church

Here is an ancient water jar, similar to one that would have been used in Jesus' time.

Nearby is Tabgha, the church at the Mount of the Multiplication of the Loaves & Fish, along the hillside leading down to the Lake of Galilee (Israelis refer to it as Lake Tiberias or Kinneret). The church is lovely.

Here is a close-up of the altar above the multiplication rock where Tradition says Jesus performed his miracle of feeding the multitudes. You can also see the famous mosaic design of the fish and basket of loaves in the floor in front of the altar.

The hillside where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish

We then went to Capernaum (Kafr Nahum) to see the ruins of Peter's house, pictured above.

A very modern church has been built on stilts above these ruins.

A few yards from Peter's House are the ruins of the ancient synagogue in Capernaum.

More ruins like these were seen throughout all of Capernaum.

The three of us stood for a pose outside Capernum, at the Sea of Galilee.

We ate lunch at a restaurant along the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Danny, of course, had fish from the sea. Also, at the end of the buffet line was a basket of pita bread…that just kept filling up!!

The final stop for the day was at Yardenit, along the Jordan River, where it flows out of the Lake.

At Yardenit, there are 7-8 gates where people come to be baptized in the waters of the Jordan River.  A man from our group took advantage of the opportunity.

Every so often, we would see anti-missile fortifications in the countryside, like these.

On the way back to Jerusalem, we made a pitstop in the West Bank town of Jericho, the oldest inhabited city in the world.  It's been settled for more than 10,000 years!

The next day (Sunday), we visited the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Below are some of the memorable items we saw there...

Deb thought this was very intriguing: she called it 'The Last Supper, Israeli style.' It's an untitled piece by Israeli photographer Adi Nes. Don't the poses look familiar?

There was a special exhibit of Botticelli's Annunciation, a wall-sized fresco. It is absolutely gorgeous!

Tom was thrilled

to stumble onto one of his favorite sculptures in this museum: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, by Boccioni.

On the grounds of the museum, there is a complete model of Jerusalem in the year 66 CE.

On Monday, we took a taxi to the top of the Mount of Olives and walked down the mountain into the Old City.  We visited as many sites as possible (but some of the sites closed at noon, so we were unable to visit them all).  Pictured above is the Russian Orthodox Church of the Ascension, built on the spot from where Tradition says Jesus ascended into heaven.

There is little inside this church but a few niches and a dirt floor. But in one spot the underlying rock is exposed: this is supposedly the very spot from which Jesus rose to heaven.

The Pater Noster Church was beautiful. The church was built over the cave in which Jesus is said to have taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer. The walls of the courtyard were covered with copies of the text of the Our Father in too many languages to count.

The walk down the Mount of Olives provides a perfect view of the Dome of the Rock. It is easy to see why Jesus and his friends loved to come to the Mount and its hillside gardens when they were in Jerusalem.

Proceeding down the hill, we passed this locked gate. The cave is identified as the Tomb of the Prophets Haggai & Malachi.

The Greek Orthodox Tomb of the Virgin is partway down the hillside. In the orthodox tradition Mary is said to have died a natural death and was resurrected after three days and taken into heaven. This is revered as the site of her tomb in that tradition. Unfortunately, this church was closed, so we were not able to enter.

Also closed at midday was the Russian Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene, dedicated to this disciple of Jesus, the first to see him after the Resurrection.

At the bottom of the Mount of Olives we came to this tranquil and carefully tended garden filled with ancient olive trees, the breathtaking Garden of Gethsemane.

Gethsemane garden is seen in this view to the left of The Basilica of the Agony. The interior of the church was unlit when we entered, but we took time to visit and pray here. Crossing the Kidron valley, we made our way back to the Old City.

As we walked back, we saw ruins like those pictured above.  Thankfully, there was a map on the walk that informed us what we were looking at.  This photo shows the tomb of Bene Hezir (dating to the second century) on the left and the tomb of the prophet Zechariah to the right.

Pictured here is Silwan (in Greek, Siloam), the Arab neighborhood on the outskirts of the Old City just below the Haram es-Sharif, and at the end of the Kidron valley.

On New Year's Eve, we joined a bus tour to visit Masada and the Dead Sea.  Along the way, we passed several Bedouin camps like the one pictured above.  We also visited a kibbutz at the Ahava Factory by the Dead Sea. (Ahava produces cosmetics from minerals harvested at the Dead Sea.)

One highlight of the trip was the chance to see the Qumran Caves from the bus; these are the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by a shepherd boy in 1947.

Other Qumran Caves

The Dead Sea.  Off in the distance on the other bank is the country of Jordan.

Masada from afar

The only time it rained on our entire trip (it was drizzle really) was while our tour was atop Masada.  It didn't matter to us: the entire fortification was unbelievable! This is a view across the plateau.

Here you can see the remains of the Bathhouse, part of Herod the Great's palace at Masada.

This is a cistern that Herod built to hold water, which had to be carried up the cliffs by teams with pack animals.  Its lining is still strong and pretty complete.

In this view from atop Masada, we are looking down onto the earthen ramp that was built by the Roman army that laid siege to the Jewish rebels that holed up here in the second century. This was the breaching point of the walls of the fortress. Rather than surrender to Roman slavery, hundreds of the rebels chose death at the hands of their friends.

We proceeded to the shore of The Dead Sea, the lowest place on Earth (417m below sea level).

We stopped at a tourist outpost called Mineral. Here is a close-up of the shoreline of the Dead Sea.  It is full of calcified salt formations (and rocks!).

Debbie, Keith and Tom chose the adventure of bathing in the Dead Sea. It really is an amazing feeling, experiencing the tremendous buoyancy of this water!  You can't sink, and it's very hard to even stand up if you are in water deeper than your thighs.

Keith and Deb are completely vertical in the water -- not treading water, and no feet on the bottom.  We just stayed up as straight as pencils!

On New Year's Day, we said goodbye to Sara and Keith and the children and returned to Tel Aviv for the short trip to Istanbul, Turkey. This jaunt was a special affair for Tom who, since he took Art History AP class at Walnut Hills, had dreamed of seeing the Hagia Sophia.

Since we would only be able to spend one day in Turkey, it was important to get to see as much as we could. So we hired a local tour guide, Emre, who was worth his weight in gold! He met us early the next morning at our hotel in the Sultanahmet neighborhood of the old city, and walked us a few blocks to the doors of the Blue Mosque. This imposing and strikingly beautiful complex was built in the early 17th century by Sultan Ahmed I.

The Blue Mosque received its name because the entire interior is covered with various blue tiles.  We removed our shoes on entering the mosque, and Deb was obliged to wear a head-covering, as it is an active place of worship. This is a picture of the interior.

This shows the prayer area to the left, and the pulpit in the center of the shot (look for the narrow stairway rising up from the platform).  No one is permitted into this area except during the 5 daily prayer times, and then only men are allowed into this special area.  Women remain in the rear or may pray in an upper gallery.

When one steps out the gate of the Blue Mosque complex, this is the sight you are greeted with! (No wonder the Sultan felt compelled to erect that immense mosque; this was his competition!) This truly magnificent building is the Hagia Sophia (Greek for the Shrine of the Holy Wisdom of God). The first church at this site (one substantially smaller than this, but still called a Great Church a the time) was erected in the 350s as a Christian basilica by Constantius, the son of the great Emperor Constantine. In the year 404, tumultuous riots in Constantinople that arose in a power struggle between St. John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the Empress Aelia Eudoxia, led to the burning down of that first church. It was rebuilt a few years later by the Emperor Theodosius II, but this second church later burned in 532 under the reign of Justinian when the city was wracked by violent riots caused by rival gangs who supported opposing chariot race teams at the nearby Hippodrome! Pieces of the second church were incorporated into the third, far more grand -- and present -- structure, which was raised by Justinian...in less than six years! It has survived many centuries of earthquakes (though not without the need for major reconstruction projects), the sacking of the city by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, its recapture by the Byzantines in 1261, its fall to the Ottomans in 1453 and its reopening as the first Imperial Mosque of Istanbul soon thereafter, and its alteration to its current status as a public museum by Attaturk in 1935.

The dome and walls are so thick & heavy, and the area so prone to earthquakes, that brick buttresses needed to be attached to keep the walls up.  These date to the sixteenth century.

The left side of the interior of the church is undergoing restoration.  What you see here is the main hall of the space.

Here is another better view of the mosaic of the Madonna and Child above the apse as well as two medallions on either side at the tops of the columns.  The one on the left honors the Prophet Muhammed and the one on the right the name of Allah.

This is the upper gallery of the Hagia Sophia.

Emre made sure to show us this crooked column, thrown off vertical by one of MANY earthquakes. The building has seen numerous reinforcement projects over the centuries.

This stunning mosaic, called the Deësis Mosaic and dating from the 11th century, depicts Mary, Jesus, and John the Baptist.  It resides in the upper gallery.

A close-up of the image of Christ. Truly sublime.

Here is the Comnenus Mosaic in the upper gallery.  It shows the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus & the Empress Irena with the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus.  These mosaics were gorgeous!

Here is a close-up of the mosaic above the main altar in the Hagia Sophia taken from the closer vantage of the upper gallery.

This entry-hall mosaic shows the emperors Justinian at the left and Constantine on the right.  Justinian presents the church building as his offering, and Constantine, who allowed freedom of religion in the Roman Empire, presents a model of the city.

Just outside the Hagia Sophia there is a large baptismal pool.  This shows the interior of the pool.

After visiting the Hagia Sophia, we proceeded to Topkapi Palace.  This is the wall surrounding the palace grounds.  It's not one structure: it contains many different palaces that were built at different times and for different reasons.

Here is a picture of the Hagia Eirene (the Holy Peace, or St. Irene, built by Constantine as a basilica church in 360, but now used as a concert hall) on the palace grounds.

This is the Greeting Gate.

The Executioner's Fountain is where Janissary executioners would clean their swords after an execution!

The Divan Hall is where the Sultan would meet with his advisors.

Felicity Gate, or the Gate of Happiness, and entrance to the third courtyard where the residences of the palace are.

Former military barracks now house an museum filled with the treasures of the Sultans: clothing, weapons, jewels (including a 28-karat diamond!), furniture, etc.

Here we are at Topkapi Palace on the European side of Istanbul.  The Asian side is across the Bosporous, behind us.

Every time the Sultan enjoyed a military victory, he built a palace here to commemorate it.  This one is called the Armenian Victory Palace.

This is the interior of the Baghdad Victory Palace.  The spectacular blue tiles of the interior are a wonderful sight.

Most of the buildings of the palace were covered with this exquisite tile.  This is detail on the exterior wall of the Circumcision Pavilion (dedicated for the Muslim ritual circumcision of the palace princes).

Here is one last picture of the Hagia Sophia on a sunny day.

Danny couldn't resist taking this picture of a tower of baklava in a shop window! The Turks love their sweets.

The final stop on our tour of the old city was the Grand Bazaar. Thank God we had Emre with us.  There are more than 3,000 stores here (!), and approximately 25,000 people work here every day.  Danny made the mistake of saying "No thanks" to a rug seller standing outside his store (rather than ignoring them as we were told to do).  Deb told Emre that Danny probably needed to be saved from the man! Danny and Debbie found a lovely plate and bowl here, and Tom bought a silk scarf for Joanna and some fezzes to bring home as gifts for his buddies.

As we parted ways with Emre and thanked him for a wonderful day, we plied him for dinner recommendations.  He recommended a restaurant at the Seven Hills Hotel and told us that while it was expensive, it has great views of the area.  Wow, was he right!!  Tom and Danny spent the entire meal looking out at the Blue Mosque (pictured above) and the Hagia Sophia lit up at night, while Deb faced the Bosporous River!  What a perfect ending to a wonderful trip!!!!